Paddle wheel boat



United States Patent 3,467,049 PADDLE WHEEL BOAT George J. Turcotte, Dayton Trailer Park, 403 York, Osseo, Minn. 55369 Filed Jan. 26, 1968, Ser. No. 700,939

Int. Cl. B63h 16/12, /02 US. Cl. 11523 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A one-man paddle wheel boat having a tri-hull secured to a deck to form a flotation chamber. Projected rearwardly from opposite sides of the deck are downwardly opened housings carrying upright rotatable paddle wheels. Independent crank members are secured to each paddle wheel. The crank members are separately rotated with linearly movable rods biased in one direction and moved by foot power in the opposite direction. Adjustably mounted on the deck is a seat for the operator of the boat.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Bicycle and paddle drive mechanisms have been developed to propel boats and pontoons in water. These boats are normally provided with a rudder to steer the boat. Examples of these boats are shown in US. Patents No. 2,287,706 and No. 3,027,863. Attempts have been made to steer a boat with a pair of drive paddles by driving one paddle at a different rate of speed than the other paddle. Patent No. 1,691,396 discloses a paddle Wheel drive mechanism of this type. In this drive mechanism the power supplied to the paddle wheels is not continuous. Power is supplied to the wheel only during one half of the revolution of the wheel with the result that the efficiency to propel is greatly reduced. The drive mechanism for the paddle wheel of the present invention pro vides a smooth, continuous and independent drive for each paddle wheel so that the boat can be steered without the need for a rudder or other steering structures.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention relates to a paddle wheel drive for a paddle wheel boat having a pair of independently rotatable paddle wheels and a drive mechanism for continuously and independently driving the paddle wheels to propel and to steer the boat. The drive mechanism includes separate crank members operable to rotate the paddle wheels and linearly movable members for rotating the cranks. Separate biasing means urge the linearly movable members in a first direction. An external force, as the force from the foot of an operator, urges the linearly movable means in a second direction against the force of the biasing means to rotate the paddle wheel. The external force in sequence with the biasing means provides a continuous drive for each paddle wheel.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the paddle wheel boat of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is bottom view of the boat of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the boat of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawing there is'shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 a paddle wheel boat of the invention indicated generally at 10 having a tri-hull 11 enclosed with a deck 12. Projected rearwardly from the opposite sides of the deck 12 are bottom opened housings 13 and 14 rotatably carrying upright paddle wheels 16 and 17.

3,467,049 Patented Sept. 16, 1969 A manually operated drive mechanism indicated generally at 18 operates to continuously and independently rotate each paddle wheel 16 and 17. An operator positioned or sitting on a seat 19 uses his feet to operate the drive mechanism to both propel and steer the boat.

Referring to FIGURE 2, the tri-hull 11 has an upwardly projected arcuate bow 21 joined to upright and outwardly inclined port and starboard sides 22 and 23. The rear of the hull has an upright stern 24. The bottom of the hull 11 has a pair of spaced longitudinal channels 26 and 27 which divide the hull into three longitudinal pontoon type sections providing the boat with stability.

Deck 12 is sealed to the top of the hull 11 by a sealtype clamp 28, shown in FIGURE 3, to provide an air chamber between the deck and the hull. The deck 12 has a forward pit or recess 29 and two rearwardly extended longitudinal passageways 31 and 32 which divide the deck into longitudinal side sections 33 and 34 and a longitudinal center section 36.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 4, side sections 33 and 34 carry upright ribs 37 and 38 having a plurality of longitudinal holes. The seat 19 is supported on the ribs. The lower portion of the seat has a pair of longitudinal inverted U-shaped members 39 and 41 which extend over the ribs 37 and 38. As shown in FIGURE 4, separate pins 42 and 43 releasably connect the U-shaped members 39 and 41 to the ribs 37 and 38 respectively. In this manner, the seat 19 is adjustably carried on the deck 12.

Referring to FIGURE 5, a paddle wheel 16 comprises an upright disc 44 having a plurality of circumferentially spaced transverse vanes 46. Each vane 46 slopes in a forward direction and extends inwardly toward the center line of the boat. Secured to the center of disc 44 is an inwardly projected hub 47 mounted on a transverse shaft 48. A pin or key 49 secures the hub to the shaft. As shown in FIGURE 4, the shaft 48 extends through sleeve bearings 51 and 52 mounted on the sides of housing 13. The inner end of shaft 48 is shaped into a crank arm 53 used to rotate the shaft 48 and paddle wheel 16. The paddle wheel 17 is identical in construction to wheel 16 and identical parts have the same reference numerals with a suffix A. The inner ends of the crank arms 53 and 53A are axially aligned and rotatably mounted within a coupling leeve 56.

Returning to FIGURE 1, a pair of foot operated reciprocating members 57 and 58 are located within the forward pit 29. Members 58 and 59 are slidably mounted for linear movement on guide rods 59 and 61 forming a part of a U-shaped member mounted on an upright support 62 and support bosses 63 formed in the forward portion of the deck 12. The reciprocating members 57 and 58 are both biased in a rearward direction by springs 64 and 66 concentrically located on the rods 59 and 61. The reciprocating members 57 and 58 are connected with separate rods 67 and 68 to the crank arms 53 and 53A respectively. The forward ends of the rods 67 and 68 are secured to the bottom portions of the reciprocating members 57 and 58 as shown in FIG- URE 3. The rear ends of rods 67 and 68 are joined to transverse sleeves 69 and 71 rotatably mounted on the offset crank portions of the crank arms 53 and 53A.

In operation, the operator of the boat 10 located on seat 19 places one foot in the area indicated at 72 on the outwardly directed portion of the reciprocating members 57. The other foot is placed on member 58. Each reciprocating member is independently pushed forward against the biasing action of the cooperating spring to rotate the crank arm. The members 57 and 58 may be pushed together or in sequence. On release of the forward from from the reciprocating members the springs move the reciprocating members and associated rods in a rearward direction to continue the drive on the paddle Wheels. Both reciprocating members are operated to propel the boat in a forward direction. To turn the boat, only one of the reciprocating members need to be operated whereby one paddle wheel will rotate to drive the boat in a circular path. The sleeve 56 allows each crank arm 53 and 53A to rotate independently and continuously so that the boat is propelled continuously.

The invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment of the boat and drive mechanism to propel and steer the boat. The boat can be any type of ship or vessel propelled with paddle wheels. It is to be understood that various changes and additions in the boat and drive mechanism may be made by those skilled in the art with departing from the spirit of the invention. The invention is defined in the following claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. Propelling apparatus for a boat comprising: Water engaging rota able means, crank means connected to the rotatable means, a reciprocating member, rod means connecting the reciprocating member to the crank means whereby movement of the reciprocating member between a first and position and a second position rotates the rotatable means and biasing means yieldably holding the reciprocating member in the first position whereby the rotatable means is driven by the biasing means on movement of the reciprocating member from the second position to the first position.

2. The propelling apparatus of claim 1 wherein the rotatable means is a paddle wheel rotatably mounted on the rear section of the boat.

3. The propelling apparatus of claim 2 wherein the paddle wheel is covered with a housing having an open bottom.

4. The propelling apparatus of claim 1 including a pair of rotatable means, separate crank means connected to each rotatable means, a pair of reciprocating members, seprate rod means connecting each reciprocating member with a separate crank means whereby movement of one reciprocating members drives one rotatable means and movement of the other reciprocating members drives the other rotatable means, and biasing means for each reciprocating member.

5'. The propelling apparatus of claim 4 including guide rods mounting the reciprocating means, said biasing means comprising springs positioned about the guide rods.

'6. The propelling apparatus of claim 4 wherein the reciprocating members include foot engaging portions.

7. The propelling apparatus of claim 4 wherein the pair of rotatable means are paddle wheels rotatably mounted on opposite side of the rear of the boat.

8. The propelling apparatus of claim 1 including guide rod means mounting the reciprocating member.

9. The propelling apparatus of claim 8 wherein the biasing means includes a coil spring located about said guide rod means.

10. The propelling apparatus of claim 1 wherein the boat has a deck formed with a pit, said reciprocating member located within said pit.

References Cited -UNITED STATES PATENTS 618,555 1/1899 Belz -25 1,691,396 11/1928 LindstIOm 11523 ANDREW H. FARRELL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 115-25 

